


Deep Dive

by raidelle



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Galahdian Culture, Galahdian Traditions, Ignis and Nyx are Engaged, Ignyx Week 2018, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Wedding traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 14:56:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16600103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raidelle/pseuds/raidelle
Summary: Nyx and Ignis are getting married soon, and there's one Galahdian tradition that Nyx wants them to do before the wedding.





	Deep Dive

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for Day 2 of [@ignyxweek](https://ignyxweek.tumblr.com/) 2018, using the prompt "Cultural Differences"
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading! :)

“We have to what?” Ignis asks, nearly choking on the last word. He’s a little too shocked to be embarrassed.

“Cliff dive from Lover’s Peak and down into the Galahdian Sea.” Nyx says it in a flat, bored tone as if it were no big deal. Which it probably is for his daredevil fiance.

“Isn’t that, um… dangerous?”

Nyx snorts. “Psh, Lover’s Peak is only, like what, sixty feet?”

“Only sixty…” Ignis splutters. He rises up from where he’s snuggled against Nyx on their bed and swats his bare chest. “That’s like jumping down from a six-story building, Nyx!”

“The highest peak of the Galahdian Ridge is about a hundred and fifty and I jumped from there all the time,” Nyx shrugs and Ignis makes a frustrated noise.

“Sweetheart,” he implores.

“Uh oh, there goes the sweetheart.” Nyx knows Ignis uses it only when he’s about to lay on the charm to get his way.

Ignis huffs and settles back into Nyx’s embrace. “I just don’t think it’s necessary to jump off a cliff to let people know that we love each other and that we’re getting married soon.”

“Babe,” Nyx says. He turns to face Ignis completely and it is Ignis’s turn to brace himself. Those blue-gray eyes are pleading, beseeching even, which they almost never are because they are so used to glinting with mischief or laughter.

“I’ve never wanted to…” he sighs then tries again. “Galahd is pretty big on traditions, right? All sorts of folksy stuff and legends and all that. There are a lot of ‘em that only we Galahdians would understand and appreciate, and those are things that I do with Mom and Lena anyway. But this? This is the only tradition that I’ve ever wanted to do for myself.”

“Nyx, I --”

Nyx runs a finger down Ignis’s cheek. “I just… I’ve wanted to jump down that cliff ever since I saw Mom and Dad do it for themselves.”

Now Ignis is curious. “I thought you had to do it before you got married?”

“Yeah, well, Mom was already pregnant with me when she and Dad got married and things kind of got in the way after that. They jumped when I was eight. Lena just turned four and she was cheering like mad.” Nyx’s eyes crinkle at the corners in fond recollection. “Mom’s not too big on risky stuff but she jumped with this huge fuckin’ scream. Like, you’ve seen how tiny she is right? And she straight up roared all the way until she dropped in the water. It was awesome.”

Ignis smiles then, a small and gentle thing, and peppers Nyx’s face with tiny kisses. Nyx laughs and grabs Ignis’s face, planting a noisy smooch on his lips. “We don’t really _have_ to do it, you know,” he says afterwards, shrugging again. “It’s an old tradition anyway. I just thought --”

“Oh, shush,” Ignis says, putting a finger on Nyx’s lips. “If it really means so much to you then I’ll do it.”

“Really?” Nyx speaks against the finger on his lips. His eyes are sparkling and Ignis knows it is the right thing to do.

“Yes. But just the one time, all right? No repeat performances if I live through the experience.” Ignis gives a mock shudder.

“I’ll make sure you live,” Nyx says solemnly. Then he sucks the finger against his lips and maneuvers himself onto his elbows, looming above Ignis like a predator about to go in for the kill. “I’m not gonna let you go, Ignis. Not ever. I promised you, didn’t I?”

He licks at Ignis’s pulse point before drawing a small patch of skin to mark. Ignis shivers, hands going up to thread at Nyx’s braids. “Yes, you did,” he breathes. “I love you, Nyx.”

“Love you, too, babe,” Nyx says even as he trails more kisses and little love bites down Ignis’s body. “Let me show you how much.”  


* * *

  
“Astrals, have mercy,” Ignis mutters.

They’re standing on the edge of Lover’s Peak, fresh from a two-hour hike and a three-hour train ride before that. Nyx is already stripping down to his underwear and he looks back when he hears Ignis’s mumbled prayer.

“Babe, c’mon. It’s gonna be fine.” He kisses pale, cold lips back to warmth. “I even convinced my family not to come and watch. It’s tradition, you know, for someone to witness the jump.”

“You Galahdians love your culture, don’t you?” Ignis says in a disgruntled tone, but he starts unbuttoning his shirt all the same.

Nyx laughs. “Yeah, and you’ll be Galahdian by association in two months so you better get used to all the folksy stuff.”

“Gods, what have I gotten myself into?” Ignis shakes his head, though there is no heat to his words.

“A lifetime with me?” Nyx says. There’s a slight hint of hesitation in his voice that melts Ignis’s heart.

“A worthwhile exchange, then,” he says. He kisses Nyx deep, as if he were drowning and Nyx is his saving breath. He’d read a quote once, from a book dated thousands of years ago and it surfaces now as he plumbs Nyx’s mouth for all he’s worth: _One day you will kiss a man you can’t breathe without and find that breath is of little consequence._

When they part, Nyx is looking at him with eyes glazed in love and lust. “I should take you cliff diving every day if I’m gonna get kissed like that every time,” he says with a naughty grin.

“I’ll kiss you like that every day if it means you’re never going to take me cliff diving ever again.” Ignis takes a peek over the edge of the rock face and promptly closes his eyes in horror. “Let’s get this over with, please,” he nearly whimpers.

“You want a running start or d’you want to just jump straight down?”

“I don’t know what… I mean...”

“You’re with me, babe. I won’t let anything happen to you,” Nyx says earnestly.

“Yes, of course. Let’s, um, let’s jump straight down.”

Nyx nods and steps toward the edge of the crag. He holds out his hand in invitation. “C’mon then.”

Ignis takes Nyx’s hand and breathes in deep. “On three?”

“Sure.” Nyx smiles encouragingly. “I’ll do the counting?”

Ignis nods, seeming to have run out of words.

“Okay. One…”

Ignis closes his eyes.

“Two…”

He tightens his hold on Nyx’s hand.

“Three!”

He takes the leap, the wind’s whistling and Nyx’s whooping in his ears.

All too soon, they hit the water. Ignis opens his eyes while still submerged and he sees Nyx right there beside him with a happy grin.

They swim back up together, gulping lungfuls of air as soon as they break the surface.

“That was fun!” Nyx says and he sounds so much like a child on Solstice morning. “Thanks for doing this with me, Iggy. Love you so much.” He gives him a quick and chaste kiss.

Ignis stays silent and Nyx looks at him in concern. “You wanna head back up? The water’s a bit cold this time of year.”

In answer, Ignis pulls Nyx to him in an ardent kiss. He tastes of saltwater and lightning and the flavor makes him crave so he kisses him again and again, until they were both moaning with want.

“What was that for?” Nyx asks, dazed.

“That was exhilarating,” Ignis echoes Nyx’s earlier grin. “Let’s do that again.”

Nyx looks at him like he hung the moon -- the moon that the Galahdians worshipped so much more than the sun -- and Ignis feels as if his heart would burst.  


**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! :)
> 
> Holler at me on Tumblr. I'm [@raidelle](https://raidelle.tumblr.com) there, too!
> 
> P.S. If you're curious, the book where I took the quote from is Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning.


End file.
